Synopses & Reviews
After years of violence, a tense calm pervades Northern Ireland, soon to be broken by Jimmy Coogan, an IRA veteran gone renegade. Jimmy has stolen ten pounds of plastic explosive, intending to destroy the parliamentary ambitions of the IRA leadership.
Into Jimmy's turbulent world come two young Americans: Brian, vain, ironic, but well-meaning; and Clare, a beautiful, earnest college student. In Ireland on an errand for his Irish Republican family in Detroit, Brian is recruited to Jimmy's bloody mission by his cousin Maire, Coogan's sharp-tongued wife. Soon they are all drawn into the unforgiving labyrinth of modern terrorism, borne toward a horrific and fatal climax.
Review
"A novel so much more than just clever and sharp that it might be said to be wise...Cusk has heart and depth in abundance, and Saving Agnes showcases both." (Abby Frucht, The Village Voice Literary)
Review
"Smart, subtle, stylish and witty." (The Boston Herald Sunday)
Review
"Cusk writes some of the neatest and funniest prose observed for years." (Newark Star Ledger)
Review
"Cusk's prose is funny, in an intellectual way." (The Christian Science Monitor)
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Review
"This, ladies and gentlemen, is the real stuff . . . Go out today and get this book, and plan on doing nothing else but reading it tonight."—
The Washington Post"More than just a page-turning thriller (though it's very much that as well, The Wild Colonial Boy is an intelligent and eminently accessible study of the mad intricacies of contemporary Irish politics. Behind the powerful drive of the meticulously crafted plot, James Hynes's understanding and affection for the land and its people makes itself very strongly felt."—Madison Smartt Bell
"A striking first novel . . . the language is charged, urgent. It is the eeriest and one of the most brilliant descriptions of anonymous violence in modern fiction."—Irish-America Magazine
Synopsis
Agnes Day is mildly discontent. As a child, she never wanted to be an Agnes--she wanted to be a pleasing Grace. But alas, she remained the terminally middle class, hopelessly romantic Agnes.
Now she's living with her two best friends in London and working at a trade magazine. Life and love seem to go on without her. Not only does she not know how to get back into the game, she isn't even sure what the game is. But she gives a good performance--until she learns that her roommates and her boyfriend are keeping secrets from her, and that her boss is quitting and leaving her in charge. In great despair, she decides to make it her business to set things straight.
Synopsis
After years of violence, a tense calm pervades Northern Ireland, soon to be broken by Jimmy Coogan, an IRA veteran gone renegade. Jimmy has stolen ten pounds of plastic explosive, intending to destroy the parliamentary ambitions of the IRA leadership.
Into Jimmy's turbulent world come two young Americans: Brian, vain, ironic, but well-meaning; and Clare, a beautiful, earnest college student. In Ireland on an errand for his Irish Republican family in Detroit, Brian is recruited to Jimmy's bloody mission by his cousin Maire, Coogan's sharp-tongued wife. Soon they are all drawn into the unforgiving labyrinth of modern terrorism, borne toward a horrific and fatal climax.
About the Author
James Hynes is the author of
Publish and Perish and
The Lecturer's Tale, both a
New York Times Notable Book. His television criticism has appeared in
Mother Jones and the
Utne Reader. He lives in Austin, Texas.